Troy and Boston Railroad
The Troy and Boston Railroad was a railroad company based in New York , Vermont and Massachusetts ( United States ). It existed as an independent company from 1849 to 1887.
history
prehistory
The company was founded on November 22, 1849 in New York with the aim of connecting the city of Troy and thus one of the most important main routes from New York City to Chicago with Boston . Part of the route, namely from Boston to Greenfield, already existed or was under construction. The Fitchburg Railroad owned the section to Fitchburg , the remaining part to Greenfield was completed by the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad in late 1850.
Track construction
In Vermont, the Southern Vermont Railroad was founded on November 13, 1848 , which built and administered the ten kilometer long section in this state. In Massachusetts, the Troy and Greenfield Railroad was founded on May 10, 1848, and the preliminary work on tunneling began in 1855. Troy & Boston began building the line in Troy and in 1852 the first section of the Greenfield – Troy line from Troy to Hoosick Junction went into operation.
The Troy and Bennington Railroad , which was founded on May 27, 1851, continued to build from there towards the state border with Vermont to establish a connection to the Western Railroad of Vermont . On August 1, 1852, the extension to the border went into operation, the Western Railroad had already opened in July. On the same day, Troy & Boston leased Troy & Bennington. The next section of the line went into operation in April 1859, so that the trains from Troy could now run to North Adams at the west portal of the Hoosac Tunnel , which had been under construction since 1855 . At the same time Troy & Boston leased the Southern Vermont Railroad and Troy & Greenfield. In April 1860, Troy & Greenfield acquired Southern Vermont.
Later, tracks were also laid from the east. The line was extended in 1868 from Greenfield to the eastern tunnel portal, the Hoosac Tunnel station, so that now only the tunnel was missing. It was not until February 9, 1875 that the longest railway tunnel in North America to date outside the Rocky Mountains went into operation. Scheduled traffic was not started until 1876.
Lease and acquisition of other railway companies
In order to connect the individual routes that run to the city of Troy with each other and to build a common central station , Troy & Boston founded the Troy Union Railroad together with the other companies in the city . Troy & Boston owned a third of the company. The terminus of Troy & Boston was also to become the city's new central station. On February 22, 1854, the main station and the connecting line were finally completed.
On January 1, 1857, the Troy and Boston Railroad leased the Western Railroad of Vermont, whose route ran from the state border to Vermont to Rutland and had a branch to Bennington . Troy & Boston was also initially responsible for operational management, but became independent again on May 8 of the same year. The lease ran for 10 years until January 16, 1867 and was not extended thereafter.
End of society
In 1887 the Fitchburg Railroad gradually took over the railways belonging to Troy & Boston. On February 1, she acquired the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, on May 8, the Troy and Boston Railroad and the Troy and Bennington Railroad. Until 1891, the Vermont section of the former Southern Vermont Railroad was administered independently. From 1900 the railway belonged to the Boston and Maine Railroad , whose successor company, Pan Am Railways , still operates it today in freight transport. Passenger traffic was stopped in 1960.
attachment
literature
- George H. Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. 2nd edition. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, WI 2000, ISBN 0-89024-356-5